Gales cruise to OCC win

Sep. 30, 2006

Written by

JOE ARNOLD

Sports Writer

GROVEPORT - It was efficient, yet sloppy. The scoring was high, but not all that satisfying.

As soon as the whistle sounded, ending Lancaster's win over Groveport on Friday, the Gales were happy for the victory but certainly not fulfilled.

Georgie Carpenter rushed for 188 yards and four touchdowns as Lancaster remained undefeated in a 47-21 win over Groveport.

Statistically speaking, the Gales (6-0, 1-0) should have walked away from Cruiser Stadium a happy bunch. Instead, they sulked away as dissatisfied as a team can be after a win.

"There are distractions. My job as a coach is to keep these distractions away from these guys," Lancaster coach Rob Carpenter said. "I think some distractions got to us. We didn't execute and play Lancaster football.

"People look at the scoreboard and say, 'what are you talking about?' But we know, the kids know and our coaches know."

In addition to Carpenter's four scores, Trent Crowell and Jessie Reed each scored a touchdown and ran wild in Groveport's sectondary. Reserve quarterback Chris Dilger added a fourth-quarter score as Lancaster won its Ohio Capital Conference-Ohio Division opener.

Groveport (2-4, 0-1), which scored twice in the final four minutes against Lancaster's reserves, battled with the Gales' size and lost. Lancaster owned the line of scrimmage against the Cruiser's quick but undersized defensive front.

At 6-foot, 270 pounds Brian Martin represented the bulk of Groveport's defensive size. The resulting mismatch was obvious. The Gales piled up 459 rushing yards and scored on runs of 48, 37 and 60 yards in the blowout.

The enthusiasm at Groveport as compared to last week against rival Pickerington Central was dead.

"We've got a lot of quality opponents down the road, and our effort tonight is going to put us in a perilous situation, if we play the same way we did tonight," Carpenter said.